She hears the engine rumbling before the red and white 1956 Beaumont Valentina comes into view. Dani Rojas recognizes the car, but she's not happy to see it. Juan Cortez gets out of the driver's seat and exclaims, "Dani!" Irritated, Dani answers, "No, Juan. I told you I was done after the Verdera Incident."
"Come on, Dani. That was like a month ago. You can't still be mad about it."
"Leave, Juan." Dani turns to head inside her home but Juan stops her by saying, "A friend of mine needs a favor." Dani stops and turns back around, asking, "Is it Trejo?" Juan shakes his head to imply no before a man appearing to be of Indian descent steps out of the passenger seat and says in an American accent, "I'm the one that needs your help. Juan tells me you're a good fighter, and I might need an extra gun on this mission."
"And who are you?" Dani is curious to find out who this man is and what he wants her to help him with, but she doesn't want to sound too overeager. The man says, "Ajay Ghale." Dani signals for the two to come up to the house, where she prepares coffee. Dani places the pot and two cups in front of Ajay and Juan and takes a seat. Annoyed, Juan asks, "Dani, we haven't seen each other for so long and all you offer me is coffee?" Dani doesn't respond, instead turning her attention to Ajay – as Juan pours something from his hipflask into his cup – and asks, "What's this mission of yours that requires an extra gun?" Ajay takes a sip of his coffee before answering, "A Yaran diplomat stationed in Kyrat escaped the country with some sensitive state documents and the help of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Kyrati government suspects they're both hiding out in Yara, seeing as your country still has no official head of state and these two could easily hide with one of the insurgency movements that's constantly springing up."
"What's my role in all of this?"
"I need you to help me follow the diplomat's trail."
"Juan can help you do that," says Dani before Juan chimes in, "I have to get back to my office, Dani. The Supremos aren't going to build themselves." Ajay asks, "Will you help me?" Dani shakes her head to say no and gestures for Juan and Ajay to leave, before she says, "I'm very sorry, Señor Ghale. Like I said when you got here, I hung up my guns a long time ago." Ajay nods before he and Juan leaves Dani's home. Dani watches as the two enter Juan's Valentina, but they don't leave just yet. Dani receives a video message from Juan, and it's one of Clara's old propaganda videos, calling the people to rise up against Antón Castillo, Yara's former dictator. Dani knows Juan is using it to convince her to help Ajay, but Dani also knows Clara wouldn't even have considered not helping Ajay. Dani gets another text informing her that Ajay helped out Benito and his Bandidos when they got into a scrap in Kyrat. She looks at Juan, who stares at her with hopeful eyes, and Dani says, "Fine, I'll help." Juan becomes visibly excited and gestures for Ajay to get out. Dani heads into a small building next to her house that she uses as a storage room and listens as Juan leaves. Ajay joins her in the storage room, where he looks at all the guns hanging on the wall. Dani removes a handgun with the word 'Garcia' engraved on the grip, before holstering it. She looks at Ajay and asks, "Do you have any guns?" Ajay nods before saying, "Juan hooked me up with a 1911 and an M16." Dani removes an SSGP-58, finished in silver, from the wall and hangs it over her shoulder before taking a gold-finished Yaran SR-A sniper rifle and hanging it over her back. Dani gives Ajay an SVD sniper rifle, which he hangs over his own back. They walk back to where Juan parked his Valentina and Dani opens the garage doors to reveal her own car. Ajay asks, "Is the Beaumont Valentina the only car in Yara?"
"No, but this one is special."
"And what makes it so special?"
"I stole it from Antón Castillo a few weeks before he killed himself. He was holding the annual Independence Day speech at the Hotel Paraíso, which Libertad believed to be live, but when I got there, all I found was his son. The chamaco showed me a secret passage that led me to this beauty and I used it to escape."
"And then you kept it just to prove that you can get to him any time you want?"
"Exactly. It was a decent consolation prize when we couldn't get the dictator." Dani throws her guns into the trunk before she and Ajay gets in. Dani whistles and a dog comes running as Dani says, "Get in, Boom Boom." Dani turns the key, and the engine fires up. Yolanda Castillo's See-Line Woman begins playing like it always does and they pull out of the garage. Dani says, "The former owner used to make clay pots at the place I now use as a garage. It was open, except for the roof, but I closed it up when I bought the place." The silver and black Valentina continues down the winding dirt road that leads to Alfaro Farm, and when they reach the main road, Dani asks, "Where to?" Ajay removes a map from his pocket and places his finger on Fort Oro, saying, "The Foreign Affairs Minister owns this place. Do you know it?"
"Sí, but I don't know if your minister told you that it's haunted."
"He must've omitted that." Dani sets course for Fort Oro. Along the way, Dani asks Ajay, "So, what's your duty in the Kyrati government that makes you important enough to retrieve state secrets?"
"I'm a problem solver of sorts for the Kyrati government."
"And how did you get that position?"
"I'm a native Kyrati, and I helped to free Kyrat from the clutches of their tyrannical king, Pagan Min."
"And where does the Yanqui accent come from?"
"My mother and I fled to the US when I was three. I never knew anything about my father, Kyrat, or why we fled until my mother asked for her ashes to be taken to Lakshmana. I traveled to Kyrat to fulfill her dying wish, but Pagan Min captured me on the border and took me to one of his governors' homes. The local resistance helped me escape and I learned that they were formed by my late father. I aided them in taking down Pagan, but the two leaders were at odds with each other, only united by their common hatred for Pagan. Sabal had this traditionalist view and wanted to preserve the ancient religion of Kyrat by having a Tarun Matara, supposedly the living reincarnation of the goddess Kyra, while Amita had a more progressive view and wanted to use Pagan's heroin operation to rebuild Kyrat. I mostly sided with Amita. Despite wanting to use illegal means to rebuild the country, I believed her heart was in the right place, and Sabal would just keep Kyrat stuck in the past, while Amita would push it into the future. When Amita asked me to kill Sabal, I couldn't pull the trigger, so I told him to hide. We eventually crossed paths near Lake Visalakhutta north of the town of Utkarsh, where he was meditating. The Golden Path and I eventually stormed the Royal Palace, where Pagan said he and I should have a 'do over'. I sat down with him for a meal and he said Kyrat was mine, that he pulled me off the bus to hand it over. After that, we took my mother's ashes to Lakshmana, that turned out to be a person, not a place."
"Who was Lakshmana?"
"My mother and Pagan's daughter. Pagan told me that my father killed Lakshmana and my mother killed him in return, and Pagan just continued where my mother left off. After I left my mother's ashes, Pagan left Kyrat with his helicopter and told me Kyrat was mine."
"That's a long answer, but it did clear up my curiosity."
"I knew you had questions that I would've had to answer. Giving you my full life story just makes it easier."
"I still have two questions, though. Firstly, how did your mother end up with Pagan Min so that they could have a child together, and secondly, how did you end up as a problem solver for the government if Pagan basically gave you control of the country?"
"My father sent my mother to spy on Pagan Min with the intent of convincing her that she shouldn't get directly involved in the fight because Pagan was too brutal. Second question's answer, Amita was still in charge, and I found her in the village of Tirtha recruiting child soldiers. I killed her, and her followers. Knowing that Kyrat brought out the worst in me, I chose to have a council run the country until a new head of state can be chosen to prevent Kyrat from falling to another tyrant. We went with a democratic government, and I offered my services as an aide to the President. My turn to ask you a question. Juan told me you basically had the country as your own, but chose to hand it to the other factions, why didn't you take power after deposing your dictator?"
"I was never interested in politics. And even though the orphan-becoming-Presidente story sounds inspirational, it's not for me." Ajay understands Dani's reasoning, and the rest of their drive go by in silence until the Yaran announces that they've arrived at Fort Oro.
Dani pulls over beside the road and takes her rifle from the trunk. She and Ajay head through the abandoned colonial mansion to the back, where Dani says, "I hope you have a grappling hook, because there's a cave inside that might be where your minister and the diplomat is hiding." Ajay pulls out a grappling hook from his backpack and follows Dani down the well, after Dani tells Boom Boom to wait outside the well and protect them from danger. Dani swings over to where she once found Oku's idol and tells Ajay, "This cave housed the idol of Oku, causing weird shit to happen at this place." Ajay asks, "Who's Oku, and what happened to the idol?"
"Oku is one of the three Oluwas, ancient gods worshipped by the Yaran people, similar to your Tarun Matara. I returned his idol, along with Ida's and Mimo Abosi's idols, to a cave on Isla Santuario." Dani detaches in the cave and finds a note written in Devanagari. Dani shoves the paper into Ajay's hands and says, "I don't read Kyrati." Ajay takes the paper and goes it over before he asks Dani, "Do you know where La Ballenada Resort is?" Dani nods before saying, "I don't have fond memories of that place." The two pull themselves out of the hole and head back to Dani's car and they drive off to the resort where Dani almost died. Ajay asks Dani why she doesn't harbor fond memories toward the resort, and she tells Ajay the story of how Dr. Reyes implanted the syringe with the PG-240 strapped to her phone into her stomach, causing her to hallucinate. She tells Ajay about her dead friends, and how their visions blamed her for their deaths. Dani says she still hasn't made peace with the fact that she's responsible for their deaths, which is why she's been trying to get away from everything. Dani says, "The added deaths during the revolution didn't help my conscious either. I keep seeing Diego bleeding on the floor of Torre Del León and his dying words, 'You were the lucky one.' I fucking hate myself for not killing Antón where he stood before he could get to Diego." They arrive at the resort, finding the corpses of soldiers and Libertad freedom fighters littered around the property. Dani says, "Coño, it looks like your foreign minister might've caused a bloodbath." Boom Boom barks to grab their attention, and Ajay finds a letter written in Spanish in the hands of a dead soldier. Ajay tries reading it but says, "My third grade Spanish is failing me." He gives Dani the letter and she reads aloud, "My Kyrati Comrade, the men who was supposed to protect us appears to have been ambushed by the rebels. We need to find a different place to hide. I might have an idea. There are rumors that the military still controls the Gabriel Castillo Public School. If you can meet me there, we should get a safe place to hide and sell those documents to the highest bidder. Your friend, Roberto."
"Why is the military in charge of a school?"
"It's not a school anymore. The military used it as a prison for Outcasts during Antón's reign. I'm pretty sure Diplomat Roberto's military friends are still using the school as a prison. What's in those documents that are so important anyway?"
"Plans for a wind farm that's going to be constructed in northern Kyrat."
"Why is that considered top-secret information?"
"Because the windmill design is an experimental one developed by Kyrat's top scientists that should theoretically create enough energy on small winds to power a few houses as well as withstanding the winds accompanying a Himalayan snowstorm. The Kyrati government wants to protect the design until it's fully tested and when we know it can work for other countries as well. After that, the patent will be made available to countries that invest in Kyrat and encourage alternative energy solutions."
They get back to the car and Dani drives to the school in Lozanía. When Dani gets there, they find that the school is crawling with soldiers. Dani and Ajay sneak inside, and Dani sets her SSGP-58 to single fire before taking out the soldiers one after the other. Ajay is mesmerized by Dani's handling of her weapon and softly asks, "Where did you learn to handle a gun like that?"
"I was conscripted into the FND just after I turned 18, but I got kicked out for punching my drill instructor in the throat." Ajay creates a pained face in sympathy with the drill instructor before he says, "If I didn't get the message yet, I know now not to mess with you." The two sneak deeper into the school, picking off soldiers one after the other. A soldier spots them and yells, "You two, stop right there," but Dani points at the soldier and yells, "Get him, Boom Boom!" The dog attacks the soldier and his teeth rip through the soldier's carotid artery, sending arterial spray all over the concrete floor. Ajay is impressed by Dani's command of the dog and pets him when he returns. Ajay asks, "He's a good dog. Where did you find him?"
"A container that was smuggled from Montana."
"I knew someone from Montana. His name's Hurk."
"The name sounds familiar for some reason." They walk up to the main office where Dani retrieves a letter from the diplomat. She reads, "The comandante of this school suggested I keep moving. We must rendezvous at some point, though. Meet me in the village of Leños Largos. We can hide at the local PDP office. I'll be waiting for you."
"How far is that from here?"
"Not far, maybe a fifteen-minute drive, but you better hold on. We're going to be breaking a bunch of laws." Dani and Ajay hop into the Beaumont and they race to Leños Largos's PDP office. Dani comes to a stop in front of the building and the two shoot the soldiers guarding the building as Boom Boom helps them. They break into the building and kill more soldiers until they reach an office on the top floor where the two see a dead body and Ajay says, "That's the former Kyrati Minister of Foreign Affairs. I hoped we could have brought him back to Kyrat to be prosecuted, but it seems impossible now."
"Great, we tracked these two comemierdas thanks to their letters, how will we find the diplomat now?" Ajay looks at the map against the wall and notices a circle drawn around the town of Armonía on Isla Santuario. Ajay says, "Perhaps that's where we'll find him?" He points to the circle and Dani says, "That has to be it. We'll need Juan to fly us out there, though." Dani checks the desk and finds some documents detailing large amounts of money paid to the Kyrati government for something called HO-1. Dani asks, "What's HO-1?" Ajay yanks the documents from her but she reveals to have more and studies it to discover that Kyrat is still reliant on the income made from heroin sales. Dani angrily asks, "Why is your country still selling heroin?" Ajay's face loses all color before he replies, "Kyrat needs the money to get our other industries up and running again, since everything was converted to produce heroin. Our main source of income, the gold mines of Kyrat, are all abandoned and foreign powers still don't want to trade with Kyrat, despite Pagan's reign ending seven years ago." Dani hands him the documents and leaves the PDP building as Ajay yells after her, hoping to get her to stop. Dani gets in her car with Boom Boom and tells Ajay, "You know where the diplomat is. Have Juan help you get there." Dani and Boom Boom drive back to Alfaro Farm. She thinks about how she's basically been around the island over the course of a day, all because the Kyrat government wants to prevent the leak of documents implicating them in the sale of heroin. Dani thinks to herself that Juan probably knew about the contents of the documents, but chose to omit it, just like he chose to omit the reason they were chasing that man in Verdera. Juan's always been like that, doing the bad things for the good of the movement, but there has to come a time when that becomes too much. Ajay reminds Dani of Juan. She thinks of how Ajay isn't bothered by the fact that his country is peddling the drugs that's probably responsible for thousands of deaths a year, all so that they could come out of their financial depression and rebuild. It's a noble idea, but it's poorly executed, just like Yara's development of Viviro using slave labor.
"The next morning, Juan's Beaumont Valentina rumbles onto her property again. Dani comes outside and yells, "Go away, Juan!" She notices he's alone and that he's not going to leave without seeing her. Juan says, "Ajay's involved in some fucked up shit, Dani, but that's why he needs you. You're the moral compass that can get him back on the straight and narrow."
"That's not my job, Juan. He has to see for himself that he's doing something wrong."
"Sometimes we have to do bad things for good reasons. Just like you kept the CIA's involvement or your capture by Castillo from Clara. You knew you were doing a bad thing, but you did it for the right reasons."
"Is that how you're going to explain away the Verdera Incident?"
"Verdera was just a fuck up from the start. How was I supposed to know Dante Fernando had a bomb?"
"You were the one that gave it to him."
"So that he can blow himself up in a field or on a mountain, not in the town square. Don't you remember, we were chasing him to stop that bomb from going off."
"Something you only told me after he already blew himself and twelve innocent bystanders up. No, I'm done fighting."
"Just this once, Dani. After that, I'll leave you to hide up here forever. You can even fade into legend like those oldies on Patriotas Peak. Remember Rule 75, a revolution isn't won by the fearless, it's won by the feared. You are feared, Dani. The people of this island respect you because of it, and you can use that fear to encourage Ajay into convincing his country to give up their heroin smuggling ways."
"Fine, it's just a pity you don't fear me."
"I fear nothing, Dani. Well, maybe I fear Guapo when he hasn't eaten in a few days." Dani laughs before walking to Juan's Valentina. Dani says, "Just to clarify, I'm not hiding, I'm in retirement." The two drive to the Gran Roca Telecom Station on Mt. Liani, where Juan left his chopper. There, Dani finds Ajay elated to see she's returned. When he tries to embrace her, Dani punches him in the stomach and says, "That's for lying to me." She then informs him that she'll only help him if he agrees to end Kyrat's heroin exports, and he agrees. They get in the helicopter and Juan lifts off. He turns on The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go as they fly to Isla Santuario. Dani tells Juan to set a course for Punto Este Lighthouse. Once there, Dani and Ajay perform a halo jump and they land in front of a boathouse. Ajay says, "This doesn't look like Armonía."
"That's because it isn't." Dani walks over to the boathouse and she pulls a tarp to reveal an orange and black 1985 Tokai Sabuku with a mounted machine gun and homemade battering ram. Dani enters the pickup through the window, and Ajay follows suit. The two drive to the town of Armonía, listening to music, and when they get there, Dani notes that the town is dead quiet. Dani tells Ajay, "Get through the back window and man the gun." Dani slowly drives through the town, looking for soldiers defending the diplomat. When they reach the center of town, soldiers come jumping out everywhere and Ajay opens fire as Dani tries to run a few soldiers over. Gunfire rings out throughout the town. Before long, Yaran Special Forces join the fight and things escalate. Dani shoots a soldier coming in on a horse before she notices one trying to get in through the passenger window. Dani draws Clara's family revolver and shoots the soldier through the eye. She tries to race away just to shake the soldiers, but Ajay yells, "If we lose him now, we might never get him again." Dani pulls the handbrake, stopping the pickup in front of the bar. A missile hits the pickup, forcing Dani and Ajay to fight through on foot. Dani and Ajay are pinned down in the clinic, low on bullets and very little cover. When they hear a chopper overhead, they lose even more courage. Dani says, "Didn't think you'd die in the Yaran dirt, did you?" Just then, Juan's voice comes over Dani's radio, "Just like old times, eh Dani?" Dani asks into the radio, "Is that you, Juan?" Dani checks to see Juan waving from the chopper and he opens fire on the soldiers outside. The three swiftly deals with their enemies until it's just dead soldiers lying in the streets of Armonía. Juan sets the chopper down and they go looking for the diplomat. They find him hiding in a church, and Ajay asks, "The documents you stole, where is it?" Roberto doesn't answer, forcing Ajay to slap him. Roberto finally blurts out, "I already sold it. It made me very wealthy." Ajay slaps him again, and a scared Roberto reveals, "It's on the altar." Ajay recovers the documents while Juan restrains Roberto. Juan and Dani watch as Ajay burns the documents in front of Roberto before Juan says, "I need a drink, anyone joining me at the bar?" Ajay replies, "I could use a drink." Dani nods and the three of them drag Roberto with them to the bar. He's tied to the fence surrounding the bar and Juan tells the bartender, "Three rums." The bartender pours their drinks and the three swallow it down in one giant gulp. The bartender pours another round and Juan turns to Dani before saying, "I admire your ability to share a drink with me so close after we argued."
"You promised to leave me alone to 'hide', remember?" Juan laughs and raises his glass, saying, "To Dani and Ajay, two very similar people who are worlds apart and came together under a series of fortunate events. And to Juan, who made the partnership possible." Dani and Ajay also raise their glasses, and the three continue drinking and sharing stories well into the night.